The entirety of Camp Half Blood's leaders; head counselors, and Chiron had all gathered into the Big House meeting room and just finished listening to the stories of Annabeth's apparently old friends. Along with the trio which included her cousin Magnus, there were two younger girls, Zia and Sadie, who had their own tales to tell.

Zia had struggled to recount the events that brought them to Camp half blood; a stuttering when she described the moment when her boyfriend had told her to run. Leo couldn't imagine the anguish and worry she must have been experiencing.

Then it was Alex's turn to explain where he and his friends had came from. Leo could definitely believe that Magnus was related to Annabeth; they definitely had the family resemblance, though he wasn't sure what to make of Samirah, who seemed to stare at everyone around her like they would turn on her at any second. Which was strange, but understandable. Everyone around her was armed, and many of them were looking at her the same way the Romans did when they'd first visited Camp Jupiter.

Though the idea of there being Norse and Egyptian gods didn't surprise him as much as the fact that these people had arrived the night before he and the rest of the Seven did as well. But in their world, nothing was simply a coincidence. The Fates were planning something, that he was sure.

"So, let me get this straight," Leo said after Alex had finished their tale. "You're someone who's literally come back from the dead, and your girlfriend-"

"I'm using male pronouns today," Alex said. "Hope you don't have a problem with that?"

Now Leo admitted that despite being able to understand the inner workings of almost any machine, gender fluidity was something he still had a difficult time wrapping his head around. He was a little ashamed of it, having worked with a few demigods who identified as such. But he simply shook his head in acknowledgement and out of respect. There were other more important matters at hand.

"And yes," Alex continued. "We used to be dead and now we're not. Though immortality doesn't apply to us once we leave Valhalla."

"Valhalla. As in the Norse version of Heaven," Will Solace interrupted. "That means… there's other pantheons besides ours operating in the US?"

"Not just the United States, Will," Chiron cut in. "The entire world is, and have always been, populated by relevant incarnations of the same truth."

"That doesn't make sense," the cabin leader said. "So then who exactly made the universe? The Greeks, the Norse, or the Egyptians? How can they all be real at the same time?

"Will," Chiron began. "You know that the Greek Pantheon are incarnations of things relevant to Western Civilization and kept alive so long as they remain relevant. While each pantheon might have contradictory origin stories, these gods all exist on the same plane in that they are all incarnations of the same basic truths. All of them embody the ideas people had in the past on how the world was created. They, through humanity's memory and the influence, are how the Gods receive their power and life force."

"So the gods each share some sort of power over the realms they hold?" Sadie asked.

"Yes, child." Chiron replied. "Why do you think the Sun continued to shine when Apollo was on exile on earth? He and Ra both share the job of ferrying the Sun, since it's the thing we're born to do, lest the balance of the worlds we reflect be thrown asunder. But they can cover for each other in case a calamity falls on either of them."

"So what does that have to do with the Torch of Prometheus?" Zia asked, crossing her arms. She seemed tired and worn out, desperate to act. Leo couldn't blame her. He'd felt the same way not so long ago. "What even is the Torch? Why would our enemy be looking for it? Is it like some sort of charm or wand?"

Chiron's face darkened. "I swore upon the River Styx to never tell a single soul about it...unless they already knew of its existence. It has been a closely guarded secret for millennia. I had hoped I would never have to speak its name for as long as I existed."

The entire room went eerily quiet. Leo could feel the foreboding atmosphere that helped set the mood for what was to come. Anything Chiron feared they knew was serious business.

"The Torch of Prometheus." Chiron said those words in a manner of awe, almost as if he couldn't believe he was actually saying it. Which, Leo figured, was exactly what was happening. "It is, quite simply, the same torch the Titan Prometheus used to bring fire, and therefore, knowledge, to mankind. It also has the power to extract and remove specific memories from others, according to the wielder's will. Such power, if amplified to a certain range, could make people forget about the gods entirely, erasing their power and presence from the world with one stroke. It's a physical incarnation of knowledge, almost a sort of God in of itself, so it cannot be destroyed, only hidden."

"But what does that have to do with keeping Hotel Valhalla in siege?" asked Magnus.

"I'm assuming their plan is to keep the Norse at bay for as long as they can, as a precaution against possible interference. Perhaps they felt they could not as easily predict the movements of that particular pantheon, so they got them out of the way first. The Egyptian Gods have gone into refuge, and the Olympians...well, they're the Olympians. Hopefully they're trying to contact the Egyptians as we speak, though I dont know why hiding from us would aid that in anyway.

"There's something else you should know," Alex cut in. "I had a dream last night. My father, Loki, the god of tricksters and thieves, came to me."

"What?" Magnus exclaimed. "Shouldn't he not be able to do that anymore?"

"Actually, I'm surprised he didn't try that sooner," Samirah said. "We know how resourceful father is."

"He didn't want to haunt me or torment me for betraying him," Alex explained. "Anyway, he said that something's going on in New Rome that's related to our enemies' plans. Something about the goddess Ate plotting something over there?"

Chiron sighed. Leo figured that the entire world might as well have been crumbled down on the Camp Counselor. "Wherever Ate walks, trouble brews. But to suggest that she could be working with the enemy…"

"Speaking of the enemy," Nico interrupted. "The guy who led the attack on Rachel's home...he recognized me from the Battle of New York. He's one of the demigods who fought for Kronos I think."

"Chiron..." Percy cut in. "What happened to those demigods, by the way?"

Chiron grimaced, leaning back so that the spotlight above him no longer shone on his face, making him look gaunt and weary. Clearly he did not enjoy being put on the spotlight, nor did he look like he was pleased to have to reveal more on what Leo figured had been an awful day to recall.

"When you forced the Olympians to make a new deal," the centaur said, "You did not talk about whether or not they would factor into the Olympians' mercy. So...they had them all annihilated. Though one escaped, it seems. Maybe more."

Percy's face morphed into a scowl unlike anything Leo had ever seen."Those bastards..."

"Percy…"

But it seemed that Percy would tolerate no excuses. "They were just kids!" he yelled, exploding in anger. "Some of them were younger than me! All they wanted was to be recognized by their parents! Even when we had to fight I tried hard not to kill them..."

A tear slid down his cheek even as he rubbed his eyes, pain etched all over his face. "And now one of them wants revenge. Against all of us, for what happened to their friends."

"Don't blame yourself, Percy," Annabeth said, putting a hand on his shoulder in an effort to calm him. "There was no way you could have known."

But Percy shook his head. "That doesn't mean I shouldn't have."

An uneasy silence fell upon them as Percy wept. Leo knew that he usually put all the blame on himself even if he had the teeniest involvement in letting someone suffer unfairly. He could tell that he still felt bad about not checking up on Calypso, just from his smallest interactions with his ex-girlfriend.

He really was as noble as a demigod could be...and probably a better boyfriend than Leo could have ever hoped to be.

"So what's the plan now then?" Sadie asked.

"Well first," Annabeth said. "We need to follow according to the prophecy the Oracle gave us. The most direct part of it is Only with Titan's mortal spawn can the Torch be found… "

"Which can only refer to me," interrupted a female voice Leo knew all too well. He gritted his teeth, having nearly forgotten the presence of the one person he'd dreaded facing upon his return to camp.

As she pushed herself closer to the table until she was by Will's side, the first thing Leo noticed was her hair. It'd been cropped to a puffy bob, a brass circlet the length of her skull complimenting the look well. Her skin looked tanner than he last remembered, probably from the long hours she'd spent outdoors during the summer. Combined with the blue overalls she's wearing, she resembled less like the Greek goddess he'd rescued and more like an ordinary farmgirl.

But, and this made Leo's heart pang with longing; she was no less beautiful than she'd been on the day they first met.

"I'll start packing tonight," Calypso said with a nod. "It'll be my first quest, but afraid I am not. I've faced far more dangerous foes than some human magicians."

"And the backwards fleece…" Annabeth paused in thought. "I think I have a clue on what it could mean. I'll have to be sure, but I'll let you all know if I find anything."

"And I need to go to New Rome," Alex said. "My father told me only I could defeat Ate somehow. He may not be the most trustworthy God, but I don't think this is one of their games."

"Then we'll leave shortly," Reyna said. "Frank and I need to address the Senate." Her eyes met Jason's. "Do you think..?"

"My presence at New Rome should be enough to convince them how serious the situation is," Jason said. "And maybe we can take Rachel with us as well? She and Ella could also try to piece together more information."

Reyna nodded. "If she's well enough and agrees to come."

"Sadie and I will lead Calypso and a small team to Nome, which is in Vatican City." Zia said, now sounding determined and confident. "We're not going to use flying boats or portals, it's too risky given how our enemies likely be watching the artifact sites."

"But we do have our own flying ship we can spare," Leo said, a little giddy that he was getting to put his creation to the test so soon. "A trip there shouldn't be an issue. I've missed authentic Italian cuisine too. I'll pilot it. I know the ship better than anyone else. It's only big enough to be manned by a smaller team, but it's faster and lighter."

Chiron nodded. "It's settled then. We have our teams, we have our goals. Some of the greatest heroes of any pantheon, of any age, together to combat what could be our greatest threat yet. United we stand, and united we shall fall...if we must."

It was the least confident sounding and the least rousing speech Leo had ever heard the centaur give. But it seemed to be enough for everyone, because they all left without protest to resume their duties and prepare the camp's defenses.

But Leo had other plans. As he watched Calypso exit among the masses, strands of her fluffy caramel bob bouncing in the air with each step she took, he knew that there was something he had to do first. If he and Calypso were to be working together, he had to at least try to put some closure on whatever feelings they shared of each other.

He'd spent the last few months mulling over this. He hadn't talked to her even when she had visited Camp Jupiter two months ago; he'd been too scared of hurt and hurting her even further, not when he had other responsibilities that took enough out of him. But he couldn't keep delaying it any further.

It was the least he could do after he'd failed her so badly.